Teen Charged In Molesting

`I Never Meant To Hurt Them'

August 01, 1989|By STEPHANIE SHARPE Staff Writer

GLOUCESTER — The color drained from the couple's faces as the therapist revealed their 14-year-old son's dark secret.

An accusation another young boy had made about their son was apparently true, therapist Barbara Duncan told the parents. Minutes earlier, amid a torrent of tears, the 14-year-old had admitted to her that he had sexually molested the boy, Duncan said.

There was more, she said. The teen-ager had described how on dozens of occasions during the past two to three years he had molested 13 other boys at the Gloucester Court House branch of Kiddie Kare Learning Center, where he was a frequent visitor. The boys ranged in age from 5 to 11 years old.

Following a month-long investigation by the Sheriff's Department, including several lengthy interviews with the boy and the victims, Gloucester's Commonwealth's attorney filed five charges of aggravated sexual battery against the teen-ager on Monday.

The boy, whose name is being withheld by authorities because he is a juvenile, will remain in his parents' custody and under Duncan's care until his trial. No trial date has been set.

Duncan is a licensed clinical therapist employed by Peninsula Hospital's outpatient practice, Perspectives. Hired by the teen's parents to determine how serious the accusation against the boy was, she also discovered that the 14-year-old is himself an apparent victim of sexual abuse.

The young man, his parents and his therapist told their story to the Daily Press in hopes that one child could be spared what their son and his victims were going through, they said.

"I want to apologize to the children and their families," the teen-ager said in a written statement. "The children mean very much to me, and I never meant to hurt them. I hope they all get into therapy like I have. I'm sorry."

His parents wrote: "As parents and people who have a sincere and deep concern and love for children, the recent events have had a tremendous impact on our lives.

"We are very sorry for these events but are encouraged by the courageousness of our child to seek assistance and to notify the proper authorities for the sake of the other children. Counseling was started immediately and will continue until we are advised otherwise."

In June, when the young man first came to see Duncan, no one would have guessed what twisted images had been haunting him, the therapist said.

Growing up, the boy was well-behaved and well-liked. He was trusted by adults, and the children at the center loved him, according to several parents.

Several of his teachers described him as "every teacher's dream." He made mostly A's and a few B's, with an occasional C when he got bored, his teachers said. He was polite and helpful in class.

"You can see why his parents couldn't understand at first how this could happen," Duncan said. "They kept telling me what a fine boy he was, and after talking to him myself I agreed."

But as Duncan listened to the parents describe their son, a profile began to emerge in the experienced therapist's mind. She knew that this seemingly happy, well-adjusted boy could very well be living in a private hell.

"After we had talked for a while . . . he just put it all out there for me," Duncan said. "He told me every bit of it. Once he started talking, he couldn't stop."

He told Duncan that he had shown the boys R-rated videos and nude photographs, she said. He had fondled the boys through their clothing and under their clothing. He had exposed himself to the other children. He had asked some of the boys to touch him, he said. There were also a few cases of sodomy.

"When we talked, he just kept repeating, `I'll never be able to get rid of it. It'll never go away. Please, can you help me?'" Duncan recalled.

He told Duncan he'd been living in constant fear for the past few years, yet he was hoping to be discovered. When he was finally accused, he said he was so frightened he thought about running away. Then he realized that this might be his only chance to exorcise his internal demons of a compulsion too strong for him to control.

"A large percent of children who sexually abuse other children are like my client," Duncan said. "They appear to be the children that every parent would love to raise.

"But very slowly as the child gets older, a subtle pattern of behavior emerges. Certain needs evolve that have nothing to do with sex. This boy was driven to sexual misconduct by an emotional disorder that had nothing to do with sex."

The boy is not homosexual, Duncan emphasized. His problem is not a question of sexual identity. It is not a sexual question at all, she said.

"Often there is anger in sexual abuse," she said. "However, in this case, there was no malice of intent, but rather an ever increasing drive that becomes addictive."

Four main factors led to the teen's emotional problems, Duncan said.

First, the boy has said he was sexually abused by an older child when he was about 7. Part of his emotional development was arrested at that stage, she said.